Citizens' Feedback Driving Education Reform in Cross River-- Commissioner

By NSAN NDOMA-NEJI,Calabar 

Cross River State Commissioner for Education, Senator Prof. Stephen Odey, has said the administration of Governor Bassey Otu is institutionalising citizen feedback as a catalyst for educational transformation in the state.

Presenting a paper at the Political Advocacy Summit held at Transcorp Hotel, Calabar, the education commissioner stated that without feedback, government would not know what is happening in the educational sector.

He said the theme, "Beyond the Classroom: Institutionalising Citizen Feedback as the Catalyst for Educational Transformation in Cross River State"is in line with Gov Otu's People-First Policy. 

Odey asked ,"What is a government if it does not listen? What is a policy if it does not reflect the lived realities of those it purports to serve?" 

He described feedback as "the very oxygen of participatory governance" and "a weapon against tyranny, a shield against corruption, and a ladder to excellence."

The Commissioner gave a candid overview of the sector inherited in May 2023, adding that it reflected decades of fiscal constraints, infrastructural deficits and systemic weaknesses. 

He said to pretend previous administrations did nothing would be "historically dishonest and intellectually indefensible," stressing that the University of Cross River and the network of secondary schools are testaments to earlier leaders, but that challenges had outpaced responses, leaving dilapidated blocks, teacher shortages and a broken feedback loop.

On reforms, Odey disclosed that between 2023 and 2026, the state accessed and utilised over N17 billion in Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, intervention funds through prompt payment of counterpart funding. 

He said the funds were used to construct 149 classroom blocks, rehabilitate 50 others, provide 30 boreholes and supply 23,461 pieces of customised furniture, adding that locations were chosen through community needs assessment and school census. 

He also said the Ministry recovered over N30 million in illegal levies and sustained payment of WAEC fees for 43,694 indigenous students at a cost exceeding N1.17 billion between 2024 and 2026, noting, "We asked parents, we listened to the cries of families who were being squeezed."

On teacher welfare, the Commissioner said more than 14,000 teaching and non-teaching personnel have been promoted, with new recruitments and intensive training in English and Mathematics in partnership with the World Bank HOPE Education Project. 

He said the Teachers Continuous Training Institute, TCTI, Biase, has become the nucleus of professional development. 

He cited feedback in action when the Non-Academic Staff Union of TCTI threatened protest over promotions and minimum wage and when UNICROSS ASUU embarked on strike, saying, "We convened a meeting, listened to their grievances, and resolved the matter amicably. This is a listening government."

Odey announced that Cross River has become the first state to officially adopt a government-backed digital learning ecosystem with statewide STEAM Clubs in all secondary schools, integrating coding, robotics and AI literacy. 

He said the initiative was spurred by feedback from the Cross River Students Academic-thon Challenge. 

On quality assurance, he said the State Executive Council has approved a clampdown on violating schools, a new policy limiting textbooks to 12 from 18, and the inauguration of a Ministerial and Local Government Taskforce to enforce standards and collate compliance feedback from pupils, teachers and parents.

He said reforms are already showing results, with the state's WAEC pass rate rising from 68.5 per cent in 2023 to 72.1 per cent in 2024 and Cross River ranking fourth nationally in the 2024 NECO with 76.05 per cent success. 

Odey urged citizens to keep speaking through feedback and participation while calling on public servants to "listen with humility, listen with intent, listen with purpose and deliver on your mandates," adding that the administration is building on existing foundations, not starting from scratch.